During the nineteenth meeting of the Board of Directors of the Regional Center for Agricultural Reform and Rural Development in the Near East “CARDNE”, held on Tuesday, January 2, 2024, in Amman, the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, Dr. Alaa Azouz, the Head of Agricultural Extension Sector, was elected as the Chairman of the Board of Directors of CARDNE. He attended the meeting via video conference.
It is worth mentioning that CARDNE is an independent international governmental organization headquartered in Jordan. The Board of Directors consists of ten member countries (Jordan, Egypt, Syria, Tunisia, Iraq, Lebanon, Yemen, Sudan, Mauritania, and Morocco).
CARDNE was established by the initiative of the member countries, under the auspices of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), with the objective of implementing rural development programs by identifying local needs and working with the people of the Near East to prepare suitable programs. The center emerged from a meeting held in 1983 in Rome under the auspices of the FAO, attended by representatives and observers from 18 countries of the Near East region.
The vision of the center is to serve the needs of the member countries in a wide range of issues related to agricultural communities in rural areas, by working through a network of national centers in the member countries. The goal is to stimulate and enhance regional cooperation and integrate rural populations into the development process, enhancing their participation in social, economic, and cultural life, providing agricultural guidance and technical support for field applied research and strategic activities, and promoting ideas and experiences.
It is also noteworthy that the President of the Arab Republic of Egypt issued Decree No. 199 of 1985 concerning the approval of the agreement establishing the Regional Center for Agricultural Reform and Rural Development in the Near East, signed in Rome on September 28, 1983.